Opening Remarks and Introduction
Tonight, we start a new series at Concordia called Soul Keeping. What is a soul? The word SOUL may be one of the most over-used and under-defined terms in our language. Let me show you why I say that. See if you can complete these:
1. If you have trouble making a decision, you might be told to do some soul _________ (searching)
2. Single people may look for a partner who is their soul ___________ (mate).
3. You can eat soul ____ (food).
4. You can listen to soul _____ (music).
5. You can even do spin classes called soul ____ (cycle)
Now, with all of that, what did you learn about the definition of the soul?
We’re going to start the conversation of Soul Keeping by taking a look at what a soul is through:
- The Creation of Man
- The Fall of Creation
and
- A Savior of Our Soul
1. The Creation of Man
Let’s start with the creation story. God created the world and everything in it. He created the ground, the oceans, the plants and animals. He created creatures in the sea, on the land, and the birds of the air. And after He completed the task, He blessed them saying “be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” (Genesis 1:22, ESV)
With the animals, there was no relationship established between God and them. Animals and plants don’t talk with God. A tree doesn’t ask God to provide more rain. Animals and plants are limited with how they interact with God.
Next, God created man, but man’s creation was a bit different. Genesis 2:7 records the event.
“Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7, CSB)
God breathed the BREATH OF LIFE. This breath of life was not merely a boost of oxygen. It wasn’t a version of CPR to get the lungs and heart going. This was an intimate relationship between creator and creation as God approached Adam’s body, and breathed into the nostrils of the newly formed man.
I image that closeness of the breathing was probably like a loving embrace as God brought to life the creation that He loved so dearly. There was something different with the creation of man. There was a closeness here that didn’t occur elsewhere. This was God imparting a soul into man.
Only man has a soul, and that makes him quite unique. God has a different plan for us. So He created us with a soul in addition to our body. He created us without flaw. A perfect creation of a perfect body, with a perfect soul.
Where the animals were let to their own devices, God cared more closely for man. God created the Garden of Eden, and put trees to feed Adam. To keep the garden tended, He established rivers to flow through it. God didn’t just create Adam. He made Adam’s home too, and that home was a place for God to build a relationship with Adam.
Part of that relationship included the JOBS he was given to do. One of those jobs was the task to name all of the animals as God brought each one to see what Adam would call them. Think about that for a moment, God was a partner in Adam’s work by bringing him the animals. God worked with Adam in a very personal way. As part of that job, Adam and God talked. It was Adam’s soul that made the conversation possible.
In this way, God established a relationship with the most unique of His creations. That relationship included meeting new needs. Adam needed a companion, and God created Eve too.
The soul is that part of us that lets us reach out to God and talk with Him. It allows us the means to connect to our creator and build a father-child relationship. It’s that part of us that allows us to listen and hear what God has to say and respond. It’s the essence of who we are, and links us back to God.
Out of all creation, only man was personally given God’s BREATH OF LIFE. Only man received a soul as part of his creation. Only man was able to talk directly with the creator, and listen to what God had to say. God created man differently, because He wanted to treat us in a very special way.
That’s how it was in the beginning. A perfect man in a perfect garden, talking with God, and having every need fulfilled directly by the creator. But that didn’t last long.
2. The Fall of Creation
Soon, sin entered the world, and everything changed. In the Garden, the serpent deceived Eve by telling her that God was a liar. Eve was convinced that she could be ‘like God’ and she was led to ignore God’s command. She gave into temptation and ate the forbidden fruit.
Sadly, Eve falls for the serpent’s story, and all of creation falls with her. She gave the fruit to her husband Adam, and he ate it too. They both disobeyed God’s command and went against that one rule. The fall of man, the fall of creation, it severed our relationship with God, and it would never be the same again.
When that very first sin was committed, our souls became tainted and unclean. No longer were Adam and Eve perfect beings, but corrupted. Adam and Eve were condemned, separated from God, and unable to save themselves.
Our souls are now blemished by that sin that’s in us. The corruption of our soul leaves us spiritually blind and deaf, and enemies of God. In such a deprived state, we can’t reach out to talk to God. Our ability to have a relationship with Him is broken. No matter how hard we reach for Him, there’s a chasm that separates our broken sinful life from our perfect creator. Look how Isaiah described this:
“But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.” (Isaiah 59:2, CSB)
The opportunity for Adam to have a conversation with God was gone. In fact, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve’s home, was also gone. They had to leave their home, leave being close to their creator, and leave talking directly with God behind. Their souls were now damaged, dirty, imperfect, and those blemishes separated them from our perfect God.
Our imperfect soul is too unclean to approach God. We’re not pure enough to communicate with Him. And in our sinful state, we’ve been separated and disconnected from God. We’re just a broken shell of what used to be. We used to be a perfect body and soul built in the image of God. But we’ve offended God, by disobeying Him.
Our broken, sinful souls need help to connect us with God. We can’t reach him on our own. We’re not able to do anything to save ourselves, or bridge the chasm that separate us from God. We need a savior to help restore our connection to Him.
3. A Savior for Our Soul
God knew that we couldn’t save ourselves with our own actions. He loves us, and has compassion on our broken, sinful souls. So, shortly after that first sin, God made a promise. In Genesis 3:15, God said:
“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, CSB)
God was talking about a coming savior who would strike the head of the serpent. A blow to the head is a serious thing and can lead to death. A hit to a heel may cause an injury, but it’s not as serious. This passage is talking about a confrontation between the savior and the serpent where the savior was going to come out on top.
The first glimpse of the gospel was a promise that a savior was going to come. A savior was going to enter the world on our behalf and battle for our soul.
God fulfilled the promise. Jesus was sent into this sinful world and led a perfect life. He built a ministry, performed miracles and even raised the dead. But that wasn’t the most amazing thing. He was an innocent man. Yet, He was condemned to death. He willingly sacrificed Himself, for us.
As a blameless sacrifice, Jesus took all of our errors, our disobedience, our blemishes, our sins, and took them to the cross. He took all of the ridicule, all the beatings, the whipping, the crown of thorns on His head, the nails in his hands and feet, the cross on His back. He took all of the punishment that the world threw at Him, the punishment that we deserved for our sin, and He bore that, as a substitute for us. He took all of the pain that we deserved.
Then He died in our place. But three days later, He defeated even death and the grave. He did all of these things to redeem us from our sinful selves.
Christ has rescued us with His holy and precious blood, and through His sacrifice, we are washed clean of our sins, and recognized as sons and daughters of God. In the process, we’re restored back with our souls washed white as snow.
Now, God reaches out to us to our-forgiven-selves to talk with us, give us His Word, impart His blessings on us, and restore our relationship with Him. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, God reaches down to us through His Word and the Holy Spirit. He heals the chasm between us, and talks to our souls.
Jesus’ sacrifice bridged the gap from God to man, by making amends for our sins of the past. No longer are we separated from God. Now, our souls are redeemed, and we can receive God’s message of redemption, through His Son Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
So, through this creation story, what do we know about our souls?
It’s the soul that allows us to communicate with God. Through our soul, we can reach out to Him and hear God talk to us. We can listen to His voice and His Word through our soul, and we are connected to God as His Children.
God created us as perfect, sinless beings. In the Garden, He established a relationship with Adam and Eve as his special creation. Only man has a soul, and we received it directly from God in the BREATH OF LIFE.
Sin changed our relationship with God. It created a chasm that separated us from Him, and made us unworthy. Sin condemned us. And there’s nothing that we can do to save ourselves.
Jesus changed all of that with the mercy and grace that we don’t deserve. Through His sacrifice, our souls are washed white as snow and we are now redeemed people of God!
Today, our souls are redeemed and we can reach out and talk with Him. We can listen to His Word and hear what He says to us. We are restored children of God.
Amen.
